Peel Regional Police say they have charged a 16-year-old boy with murder after he allegedly stabbed a 63-year-old Brampton homeowner who confronted him for breaking into his car.
The incident occurred on Lanebrook Drive in the Castlemore and Goreway Drive area at around 2:20 a.m. on Aug. 2.
Police say the victim and his adult son witnessed a group of as many as five males engaging in petty theft from parked vehicles.
Acting Insp. Michael Pulley said the group moved to break into a car parked in their driveway and they went outside to stop them.
Investigators allege the 16-year-old boy stabbed both 63-year-old Glensbert Oliver and his son Christopher before fleeing the scene.
Christopher was taken to hospital for treatment and eventually recovered but his father was pronounced dead at the scene.
Pulley said the group fled the area in a black Lexus RX350 SUV that had been reported stolen from an address in York Region. It has since been recovered.
On Aug. 12, police released a composite sketch of one suspect wanted in connection with the incident.
Newly-minted Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah called the incident “senseless” and a “remarkable incident to try to rationalize.”
Pulley wouldn’t speak to how officers tracked the group down but on Thursday with the help of Toronto police, investigators raided four homes in that city and took two youths and two 18-year-old males into custody.
A 16-year-old Toronto male was charged with one count of second degree murder, one count of attempted murder and various property offences.
A 17-year-old male and two 18-year-olds, identified as Mory Kone and Devroy Mathews, were charged with property offences.
The minors cannot be identified per the terms of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
Pulley said three of the four accused were under some form of prior conditions or recognizance at the time of the incident.
“While these arrests will not bring back Mr. Oliver nor heal Mr. Oliver’s family it is a message to those who commit these kinds of offences that you will be held accountable for your actions,” Pulley said.
All four are remanded at Brampton court awaiting bail hearings.
Pulley said officers are looking for a fifth male who they allege was in the getaway Lexus after the stabbings.
He is urged to get a lawyer and turn himself in.
Pulley said he wasn’t looking to “judge anybody” who confronts people committing a crime, but strongly dissuaded members of the public from doing so.
“Everybody reacts differently to crime when they see it but obviously call 911 and be the best witness you can be,” he said, adding stolen property can be replaced but lives cannot.
Through a liaison officer, Pulley said Oliver’s family is pleased and relieved that arrests have been made but are still very upset over his loss.
